//------------------------------// // Episode 24: Castle Rituals // Story: Yu-Gi-Oh E-QUEST // by DakariKingMykan //------------------------------// EPISODE TWENTY-FOUR Raven was walking along the halls of a spooky, dark castle. Lightning, thunder, eerie winds and creaky shutters, mixed with cobwebs, old rusted armor suits, and stone hallways. Much as Raven felt this was more like her own type of background, it felt a little creepy to her. “Hello?” she called out, but the only answer was her own voice echoing along the walls, and a few bats flying past her, making her jump softly. “Nice.” she groaned. Her foot sunk down on a stone slab in the floor, and instantly, the floor began to rumble. “Uh, oh…!” she murmured as the rumbling got louder, and she looked ahead to see a huge iron ball with spikes sticking out of all ends coming right at her. She tried to use her powers to halt the ball, only to find they wouldn’t work-- obviously her super powers wouldn’t function in the virtual realm, and so she was forced to start running! The ball was getting closer, and closer, until final Raven saw a doorway in a siding, and slipped through it letting the ball fly right past and falling down a pit at the end of the hall. Raven sighed in relief, “I don’t want to even think how close that was.” Then, she looked down the long spiraling staircase and could see a slight shimmering one the floor below. She made her way to the bottom of the stairs, realizing she had entered some creepy laboratory, like something out of books she liked to read-- chemistry sets, machinery, rather like Frankenstein. “Hmm, maybe this game isn’t so bad after all.” Then she noticed the shimmering on the floor was small glowing card; one of those point cards she was told of, and while she remembered the warning that some cards were traps that would take duel points… she just couldn’t resist. She wouldn’t know unless she tried anyway. She cautiously bent down and picked it up, and the card face glowed revealing “+40.” Raven’s eyes widened with of joy, and her duel disk began to glow along with the card. All at once her duel meter went from 40% to 80! “Cool.” she said “Now all I have to do is win one duel, and I’m out of here.” “I doubt very much you will!” called a voice from in the lab. Raven’s features stiffened, “Who’s here?” She got her answer as a guy with pale skin, black hair, and wearing a T-shirt with a death skull on it, leapt down from above, and instantly, a duel barrier surrounded the two, meaning they would now face one another. “Who are you?” Raven asked. Her opponent snickered, “My friends call me, “Goth Guy” Or at least they would if had any, but I don’t want any or need any. My only friends exist in the shadows, and I communicate with them through the ritual arts.” Then he hissed like some sort of zombie or demon, but Raven was far from impressed. “Uh-huh, so can we just duel now and get this over with?” Goth Guy snickered “I thought you’d never ask.” and he revealed his duel meter which was at 50%. “I had my sights set on that card, and you just come along and swipe it. I’m afraid the spirits are angry, and so am I. We’re going to teach you a lesson you won’t soon forget!” Thunder and lightning shook the palace, but Raven still seemed unimpressed. “Just duel already!” Goth Guy really hated her guts now, but he was ready as was she. “DUEL!!” Raven LP: 8000 Goth Guy LP: 8000 “First turn honors are mine.” hissed Goth Guy, and he drew his first five cards. “I shall place one card facedown first, and then I summon BARRIER STATUE OF THE ABYSS in defense-mode.” (Def: 1000) His eerie looking statue’s eyes began to glow and cast a dreadful dark wave that spread across the field that blew past Raven forcing her to raise her arm in front of her face. “What’s happened?” she asked. Goth Guy snickered “My statue has rather dark and devious ability. As long as he remains in play, the field remains cursed so that the only type of Special Summons can be that of a Dark monster.” Raven gasped, and whimpered in her mind, “Only Dark-Types?! But all of my PSY-Frames are creatures of Light, and most of them need to be Special Summoned or I can’t use them!” Goth Guy snickered “I’ve seen your duels as I’ve studied the competition, trying to discover all weaknesses of my opponents, and I believe I have just darkened your strategy.” Raven growled in annoyance, but Goth Guy ended his turn. “It’s my draw!” thundered Raven, but she was truly in a spot. She couldn’t play a single monster she had, not without being able to Special Summon, so she had no other choice. “I’ll place two cards facedown, and end my turn.” Goth guy only felt amused. He shut his eyes and hummed softly in a small trance, “By the powers of the darkness, I beseech thee to grant me a powerful weapon to vanquish my enemy.” Raven raised an eyebrow wonder if this guy was for real, but she watched as he drew his card, and he grinned wickedly. “Firstly, I activate the continuous trap, TOWER OF BABEL!” “Tower of what?” snapped Raven, and right there, behind her opponent, a set of four large solid stone slabs piled up into a tall tower behind her opponent.” “What are those things?” Raven asked. “You shall know soon enough.” replied Goth Guy, “For now, I now invoke the spell PRE-PREPARATION RITES! With the darkness of this spell, I shall add to the hand from my deck one Ritual spell card, and the corresponding monster it summons.” As he chose his two cards, one of the slabs on the tower behind him shone brightly, but Raven was more intrigued with the cards he was choosing. “A Ritual Card…?” “Yes,” hissed Goth Guy, “Unlike most of you, I prefer the old over-looked ways of summoning powerful monsters. “Now observe as I activate the spell LITMIST DOOM RITUAL,” A magical, and eerie looking urn appeared on the field before him, and at the same time, a another stone slab on the tower behind him started glowing. “To initiate this ritual, I shall sacrifice two monsters from my hand into the darkness itself… DIJINN RELEASER OF RITUALS… DIJINN DEMOLISHER OF RITUALS… …And I’ll throw in my own Statue of the Abyss as well!” “What?!” snapped Raven, and she watched as the three monsters vanished into the magical urn that was placed on the field, followed by a large puff of dark smoke and light that burst from the urn. “Behold the monster I have unleashed from the darkness,” shouted Goth Guy “…I Ritual Summon LITMIST DOOM SWORDSMAN!” (Atk: 0) Now Raven was really confused. “You got rid of your statue just to summon a monster with no attack points?” Goth Guy felt insulted, “Never underestimate the dark; it houses many secrets that can jump out and scare you. Those are not properly prepared to face it are doomed to vanish within its shadows.” More lightning and thunder struck from outside, but all Raven did was narrow her eyes, “I’ve actually lived through creepier stuff than this.” Goth Guy growled. “Besides,” said Raven “Now that your Stone is gone I can special summon my monsters now!” That’s what she wanted, but as she touched her cards to play them, her duel disk screen flashed with a Red-X, meaning she couldn’t perform the move. “What? I still can’t special summon?” Goth Guy snickered, “Weren’t you listening to what I just said? I told you, the darkness holds secrets.” Raven gawked at him as he explained. “You see, by using my Releaser of Rituals to Ritual Summon, my Swordsman is now empowered with the dark magic. As long as my Swordsman remains in play, you are still forbidden from Special Summoning.” Raven’s mouth dropped open, “So that’s why he sacrificed his stone.” she thought “He still managed to keep me from calling my monsters.” “And that’s not all…” hissed Goth Guy, “Using the Demolisher to Ritual Summon prevent my monster form being targeted by effects of other cards as well.” Also, since there happens to be a trap in play, my Swordsman’s attack instantly jumps to 3000!” “Ah!” Raven gasped. (Atk: 0) -----> (Atk: 3000) “And further more…” said Goth Guy, “Not only can my monster not be destroyed in battle, but trap cards are ineffective on him.” Raven’s eyes narrowed angrily. She couldn’t believe such a monster was facing her down like this. “Her opponent then entered his battle-phase, “Swordsman, by the power of the darkness, I command you to attack her directly!” The monster complied, and drew out his huge swords, lunging straight at Raven, and she couldn’t protect herself at all and got slashed hard as more lightning and thunder struck. Raven LP: 8000 -----> 5000 Raven growled softly, while her opponent acted smug. “As I told you: the darkness holds many surprises. Now, I shall lay one card facedown, and end my turn.” “Fine,” said Raven “I draw…!” She liked what she had drawn. “I may not be able to special summon monsters, but there’s much that I can do.” Her opponent looked intrigued, “I activate the spell COST DOWN! All I do now is discard one card from my hand, and I can lower the levels of all the monsters in my hand by two stars.” She discarded her card, but she also noticed that the stone tower behind her opponent-- its third slab was now glowing, leaving only one left. Goth Guy was smirking softly, which Raven noticed. “What is with that tower?” she asked “Every time a spell got played, another light shone on it.” “Naturally,” replied Goth Guy “That’s what happens while this card is in play. Every time a spell is played, its columns light up, and at the moment there are three… Once the fourth one is lit, the tower shall be destroyed, and whoever was responsible for it shall take 3000 points of damage.” Raven’s eyes widened, “So… if one more spell card is played…?” Goth Guy nodded “Do you want to take that risk?” Raven thought this over deeply, and then she realized something. “Yes, I will go for it!” “Huh?” Raven cleared her throat, “Thanks to my Cost Down card, this 6-Star monster is now a 4-Star, and it’s one that I don’t need to special summon… …PSY-FRAME DRIVER!” (Atk: 2500) Her opponent was stunned by the shining glow of that monster, “Argh! The Light!” he groaned, “I can’t believe you summoned that!” “Oh, there’s more,” said Raven with a smirk, “I activate my facedown card BATTLE TUNED!” “What?!” snapped Goth Guy, but you just activated another spell. He looked behind him and his tower’s fourth and final slab was glowing. The ground rumbled as the tower rose up off the ground, and the four slabs separated and spun around above Raven, and blasted her with their glowing lights, killing 3000 more of her life-points. Raven LP: 5000 -----> 2000 Raven shook herself clean from the effects of the blast. “It was worth it, especially since there’s no trap card on the field now, which means your Swordsman’s attack goes back down to nothing.” Goth Guy growled, but his monster’s attack had indeed reverted back to zero. “A miner set back.” hissed Goth Guy “Since my monster’s attack has dropped to zero, I can activate the trap CARD OF LAST WILL, which enables me to draw five cards. A gift from the dark forces if you will,” “Doesn’t matter to me.” said Raven “My Battle Tuned card lets me banish PSY-FRAME EPSILON from the graveyard, and its attack power gets transferred to my Driver, all 1500 of them!” (Atk: 2500) -----> (Atk: 4000) Goth Guy looked worried while Raven seemed delighted. “Even though your monster can’t be destroyed, you’ll still take a lot of damage from my attack.” She then entered her battle phase and ordered her Driver to attack, and with zero attack points, her opponent got struck extremely hard. (Atk: 4000) VS (Atk: 0) He roared and shouted as he covered his eyes from the blinding light of the attack, Raven herself couldn’t stand much of it herself, but it all worked out for her. Goth Guy LP: 8000 -----> 4000 Goth Guy stood there, still and silent. It was almost scary, like he had become petrified. “Are you okay?” asked Raven. “Yes, I am. As long as I have the darkness, there is nothing I can’t accomplish.” Raven blinked once, and Goth Guy explained, “I was always the odd-ball out, just because I was more into the darkness, and gothic rituals. I was regarded as a freak, and creepy.” “Creepy…?” “I had no friends at all, and even those who were like me thought I was too much for them. That’s why I stick to the darkness. It’s always there when I need it. It comforts me, it inspires me, and it hasn’t betrayed me in ways that people have.” This guy was reminding Raven a lot about her own self, and how she preferred to be alone, isolating herself in her room back at Titan’s Tower, and how she wasn’t much a fun girl, and often got called “Creepy” though she tried to deny it as just being “Different” it still hurt her, and she wasn’t without feeling lonely. “Look,” she told him “You can’t go beating yourself up like this.” He looked up at her, and she went on saying “I know how it feels to be like you, but I actually have friends who helped me open up.” She thought of the other Titans, and then one memory flashed by her that she hadn’t thought of in years. She was feeling broken-hearted and staying cooped up in her room. “Creepy or not, that doesn’t mean you have to stay locked in your room. You think you’re alone, Raven, but you’re not.” …And she opened her door, and hugged him, for the first time ever. Raven felt a tear of hurt and shame coming to her eye-- even as a virtual avatar, emotions could still be expressed. “My friends taught me there’s more than just keeping to yourself all the time. If you prefer dark and creepy things, that’s fine, but you can’t always run and hide from things. We can’t change the truth, no matter how much we dislike it.” Goth Guy only clenched his fists, “I don’t know whether to believe you or not, but the darkness still hasn’t let me down, and I’m not about to let it down either.” Raven sighed, “Then prove it and see if you can actually beat me.” “Very well,” said Goth Guy “I draw…!” “Firstly, I shall change my Swordsman into defense-mode…” (Def: 0) “And now, brace yourself, for the time has come to conjure the darkness in the spell known as, CONTRACT WITH THE ABYSS!” The field began to rumble and in the center appeared a large swirling vortex. “What is that?” asked Raven. Goth Guy only snickered and said, “This Ritual permits me to summon any Dark Monster I choose, but I must make proper offerings to the darkness itself. So from my hand I shall offer up the PATRICIAN OF DARKNESS… And now, from the graveyard, I activate the special ability of Djinn Releaser of Rituals! When I Ritual Summon, I am able to banish it and use it as one of the offerings.” Raven gasped and realized as she thought “That means whatever monster he’s summoning will prevent me from special summoning. This can’t be good!” The two monsters appeared and vanished into the abyss below, followed by an earthquake and a powerful burst of dark light. “Behold,” shouted Goth Guy as his monster began to take shape, “From the depths of the deepest darkness, I summon a creature like no other; one that will guarantee my victory. …I Ritual Summon BLUE-EYES CHAOS MAX DRAGON!” Raven gawked up in near-horrors at the huge hulking dragon as it spread out its wings, and gave a mighty roar that shook the castle as more thunder struck! (Atk: 4000) “It’s got 4000 attack points!” cried Raven. Goth Guy nodded, “There’s more, my Blue-Eyes cannot be targeted or destroyed by card effects.” Raven growled, “Big deal! Our monsters are equal in strength.” “Perhaps,” hissed Goth Guy “Then again, I have a spell that can change that. Go, BLOCK ATTACK!” “No!!” Goth Guy laughed wickedly, “Now your monster is forced to change into defense-mode.” (Def: 0) “I’m afraid it’s all over for you, because when my dragon attacks a monster in defense-mode, you still take damage… Double the damage to be exact!” Raven gasped! With her monster’s defense at zero, she’d be wiped out! “Let the darkness consume you!” shouted Goth Guy, and he called out to his monster, “Blue-Eyes, attack now!” The dragon powered up, and opened its huge jaws, preparing to fire dark flames. KAPOW!! The attack struck hard destroying Raven’s monster, and Raven was knocked back hard. Goth Guy stood tall and proud believing he had actually one the duel, but when he looked on ahead as the smoke cleared, he saw Raven getting back onto her feet, and her monster was still standing! “What? How could you have survived?” “Simple,” sneered Raven “I used my trap, WABOKU. It prevented my monster from being destroyed this turn, and I took no damage.” “Ah!” Raven snickered softly, “This trap affected my own monster, not any of yours, and it spared me from destruction. The darkness holds surprises after all.” Goth Guy felt humiliated, but impressed all the same time. “You really do know a thing or two about the darkness, I’ll give you that. But you haven’t won yet, and you won’t the way I see it. I shall place two cards facedown, and that ends my turn.” Raven nodded, “It’s my draw…!” She took her card, and liked what it was. “First I’ll switch my Driver back into attack-mode…” (Atk: 4000) “And then I’ll equip it with this little spell; PSYCHIC SWORD!” The magical sword appeared, and the six-fingered monster grabbed it, grinning wickedly. “Since my life points are lower than yours, this sword grants my monster an additional 2000 attack points. (Atk: 4000) -----> (Atk: 6000) Goth Guy gawked up at the glowing sword, and then looked away from it. “That light!” he groaned “Those attack-points!” Raven rubbed her mouth with her knuckles. “Time for your dragon to fall into the darkness from whence it came, and half of your life points are going to go with it too! …Go Driver, attack now!” Her monster charged forth and leapt up high, ready to strike the dragon down. “Hold on!” snapped Goth Guy “I activate CALL OF THE HAUNTED!” “What?” cried Raven. “With this card I shall revive a monster from the darkness of the graveyard, and who better than PATRICIAN OF DARKNESS!” (Atk: 2000) Raven couldn’t understand this. “You realize now I can get a replay, which allows me to change my attack to your new monster! Go Driver!” Her monster obeyed and headed straight for the Patrician, ready to slice it to bits and wipe the opponent out. Goth Guy folded his hands together, and began to hum in a trance, and at the same time the Patrician did the same. “What are you doing now?” asked Raven. “Just chanting, for you see my Patrician has the power that allows me to decide where your monster will attack.” “What?” cried Raven, and she watched as dark aura emitted from the Patrician’s eyes, possessing Driver, and it changed its course and, instead, attacked the Swordsman. “Since I have a continuous trap in play,” said Goth Guy “My Swordsman’s defense is 3000, but it won’t matter anyhow, because it isn’t destroyed in battle.” Raven could hardly believe this as she lowered her arm. “What am I going to do now?” she thought “I can’t special summon, I can’t destroy those monsters with card effects, and my attacks don’t work either.” Goth Guy thought too, “She seems on the verge of giving up. Perhaps now she’s finally realized the true power the darkness can give. It’s a shame I have to defeat her, but I’d do anything to satisfy the darkness that supports me.” Raven breathed in deeply but softly trying to think this out. Even though her monster was still stronger, she didn’t trust her opponent one bit, and suspected he would try and pull something off, most likely with that other facedown card of his. Then suddenly, an idea came to her. “Wait a minute, the way he’s been playing this duel…” Then she looked down at the facedown card on the field. “…I bet that’s it, but I’d better be right, and I need the right card to do it with too.” “I’ll place one card facedown, and end my turn.” “Is that all?” teased Goth Guy “What a pity. Now it’s my draw!” He grinned wickedly, “The time has come for me to unleash another devastating creature.” Raven clenched her fist, hopefully ready for what was coming. “I activate the ritual CONTRACT WITH THE DARK MASTER!” The ground rumbled as the image of a large, and nasty looking creature appeared, which made Raven shudder. “Now that is creepy.” “Oh, you’ve seen nothing yet.” hissed Goth Guy, “I now offer from my Patrician of Darkness. He has served me well. I’ll also banish from the graveyard my Demolisher of Rituals as the second part!” The monsters vanished and were absorbed into the dark being, which then vanished in a puff of dark smog. The smog swirled and flowed, and as the lightning and thunder struck again. “Behold my third Ritual monster; DARK MASTER - ZORC!” (Atk: 2700) Raven had never seen such an evil and creepy looking monster before, and while she noted that even it couldn’t defeat her Driver, she asked “…Does it have some sort of super special power?” Goth Guy’s eyes shimmered wickedly, “Naturally.” He pointed up to the centre of the field, up in the air as a dice block appeared and began spinning round and around like a top, and it stopped on “4” “Perfect!” hissed Goth Guy “Since I have rolled a four on that die, one monster on your field is instantly destroyed!” “Ah!” cried Raven, and she watched as her monster was swallowed up by dark mists, and leaving her defenseless. “Now that that’s settled,” said Goth Guy “I’ll switch my Swordsman into attack mode.” (Atk: 3000) “My Patrician of Darkness is gone, but Call of the Haunted is still here, which lets my Swordsman keep its 3000 attack points. Now, all three of my Ritual summoned beasts are ready, and prepared to vanquish you into the shadows!” The three powerful monsters glared at Raven, growling, roaring, and looking ready to finish her. “Now, who should destroy you?” wondered Goth Guy “I’ve got it, since my Swordsman is impervious to traps anyway, I’ll use him to destroy you.” The swordsman stood ready with its blades poised and a serious expression on his face. Raven narrowed her eyes up at the horrible monster. “Attack now!” shouted Goth Guy, and his monster lunged forth, leaping up high and coming down at Raven with great speed. “I activate my facedown…!” shouted Raven, and the card was revealed. “What? That’s not a trap!” cried Goth Guy. “No, it’s TWIN TWISTERS! By discarding one card in my hand, I can destroy up to two spells or traps on your field.” “Ah!” Raven ditched her only card, which was revealed to be a trap card…! “Go Twin Twisters!” The powerful winds struck both Call of the Haunted, and the facedown card, which was revealed to be yet another Call of the Haunted. “I knew it!” snapped Raven “You played another continuous trap so you’d try and keep your swordsman strong, like you’ve been playing all duel long, but now that there are no traps in play, your monster has no attack points to hit me with!” Goth Guy growled most angrily, and surely enough his monster finished its attack, but Raven felt nothing but a slight tickle and didn’t lose a point. “So you avoided that attack,” sneered Goth Guy “I still have two other monsters to get you with.” Zorc and Blue-Eyes still looked fierce and ready for assault. “Maybe and maybe not.” said Raven “Now I activate the effect of my trap HYPER QUICK. When it’s sent to the graveyard I get to draw one card, and if I happen to draw a spell card, I can play that card immediately.” “What?!” snapped Goth Guy “You’re risking this entire outcome on a single draw? Talk about a long shot. How do you even know the card you draw will save you?” “I don’t.” replied Raven “But I have to hope, believe, and feel that it will.” She shut her eyes and placed her fingers over her card, concentrating and hoping as hard as she could. “Ha!” she shouted as she drew the card. She looked at her card, and then stared her opponent down, making him gasp. “I activate GRACEFUL CHARITY, so I draw three cards and then discard two!” She did so, and really liked what she had drawn, and she knew just which cards to discard. “Aw, I guess your move failed.” teased Goth Guy “Like I told you, the darkness is on my side, and speaking of my side,” he looked up at his Blue Eyes, “It’s time! Attack and finish her off!” The might dragon roared and prepared to unleash its dark blazes. “I don’t think so!” snapped Raven. “Huh?” “I activate RESCUER FROM THE GRAVE! The image of a spell card she had discarded appeared. “When you declare an attack while this is in my graveyard, I can banish five cards from my graveyard, and that ends the battle phase!” The dragon powered down, and remained still, thus sparing Raven from any damage. Goth Guy clenched his fist, unable to believe he had been outsmarted, but then his smirked, “Impressive… you bought yourself a moment of grace, but I’m afraid on my next turn you won’t be so lucky.” Raven didn’t seem a bit discouraged “We’ll, see about that. Now it’s my draw!” She now had two cards in her hand. “And now, I activate the effect of CARD FROM A DIFFERENT DIMENSION!” I removed it from play last turn, and now that it activates, it returns to my hand and goes straight into the graveyard. Then we both get to draw two cards.” Goth Guy stiffened as he and Raven drew, but he didn’t like what he had drawn. “Let me guess,” Raven said “They’re both cards that could have helped you, but it isn’t your turn.” Goth Guy looked up, growling, which confirmed Raven’s thought. “Your strategies are pretty neat, I’ll give you that, but once you understand it, it’s all predictable, like when you set a trap to keep your swordsman safe, and that you use Ritual Monsters.” Goth Guy was starting to tremble, either angrily or nervously, “Like there’s anything you can actually do. Remember, you still can’t special summon, and all of my monsters are impervious to card effects.” “True,” admitted Raven “But you said you’ve seen my duels, and while you have managed to stop most of my strategies, there one that I have that you can’t stop. And it starts with this, I play STAR BLAST. This spell lets me pay 1500 life points…” Raven LP: 2000 -----> 500 Raven then held up a card, “…And for every 500 points that I paid, one level is taken off of this monster card, which changes it from 6 to 3, so I can summon it normally without tributing. …Come forth PSY-FRAME MULTI-THREADER!” (Atk: 0) Goth Guy was most confused, “That monster has no attack points, and why would you weaken it so hard to summon it?” Suddenly he gasped, and Raven grinned “That’s right, you’ve seen me do this before… I equip my monster with the BLACK PENDANT! It’ll give my monster 500 attack points, but it won’t matter to me, because I have one last card to play!” Goth Guy sweated a small bullet, figuring what it was. “I now play REVERSAL QUIZ! So I now send all the cards on my field to the graveyard, and then I guess what this top card on my deck is, and if I’m right we switch life point scores.” “No!” cried Goth Guy “The darkness is depending on me!” “And that is why you’re about to lose,” sneered Raven “Now I’m guessing that this top card is a monster.” She flipped it over, and it was indeed a monster, which meant the scores switched like magic! Raven LP: 500 -----> 4000 Goth Guy LP: 4000 -----> 500 “No!!!” shouted Goth Guy. Raven scoffed, “And since my Black Pendant card was sent from the field to the graveyard, you instantly lose 500 of your life points, and that’s all you’ve got!” Goth Guy LP: 500 -----> 0 Goth Guy fell to his knees, “No…!” he peeped softly “…But I… I…!” He looked up at all his monsters, and they all looked down at him, almost as if they were horribly disappointed in him, and they vanished along with all the other images. As for Raven, she gained 20% of duel points, which rose her meter all the way to a full 100, and with that her disk screen glowed brightly playing a small victory theme and flashed the word “FINALIST” several times. “I did it!” she said to herself, “I’m going to head for the finals now!” She also couldn’t believe she actually pulled it off-- winning the duel without having to rely on her usual strategies or even Synchro Summoning. Then she looked on ahead and saw Goth Guy slumped on the ground. He truly seemed crushed. “I lost. I let the darkness down, and after all that it’s done for me. I am nothing, nothing but a disgrace.” Raven approached him, “Stop it.” she sneered “So you lost a duel, that doesn’t make you a disgrace, especially because you fought well.” He looked up at her. “I told you, it’s okay to love the darkness, but you can’t always keep to yourself. The darkness is sometimes unforgiving and hurtful. It’s not the kind of thing you want to be stuck in all the time. Much as I like my Me-Time, there are times I do interact with my friends, and it actually helps to fill me.” Goth Guy looked down, “But… unlike yourself, I haven’t any friends to interact with. They always pushed me away, and left me with no place to turn to but the dark.” Raven couldn’t argue with that, but she lifted his chin, and just smiled at him “You think you’re alone, but you’re not.” She implied, and more than meant she could be a friend to him, if he was willing to. Goth Guy smiled up at her and she helped him get back onto his feet. However, because was at 100%, she no longer needed to be in the virtual world, and she began to vanish into thin air. “Wait!” cried Goth Guy “Don’t go yet!” “I can’t stop it!” cried Raven, and then she was gone, and he was alone again. Still, rather than feeling completely bummed, Goth Guy looked at his now 40%. “I have failed today, but I can still play. The darkness holds many secrets and surprises, and I will be there to make or discover them.” Just his way of saying “thanks” to Raven for giving him new inspiration.